Summer 2014: Day 12 – Trelissick and Godolphin

22/08/2014

Time to step back a couple of weeks to our wonderful holiday in Cornwall. Determined to make the most of our National Trust membership yet again we set off this morning to Trelissick Garden.

Now Trelissick isn’t like all the other National Trust gardens as there’s something very special about its setting – on its own peninsular. The garden is high up with some spectacular views of the River Fal and some lovely twisting paths that lead you down to the water, and the ferry port at the bottom. When we were there the colours were absolutely amazing – with the hydrangeas providing a palate of blues, pinks and purples wherever we looked. It reminded Mr C and I so much of the Madeira Botanical Gardens that we visited about three years ago – which is set on an equally steep site.

In true National Trust style there was a lovely cafe for lunch and again a gift shop full of delightful things that I simply needed in my house, and a secondhand book shop which again provided me with two more vintage Ladybird books for my collection. A bit of a theme for the holiday as a whole.

After lunch we had no plans at all so pulled out a guide book and flicked through looking for somewhere else to go – bit somewhere that would give us something a bit different to just wandering through another garden. There are only so many gardens that a four year old can put up with in one day.

One place that jumped out at us was, by chance, another National Trust attraction – Godolphin. But the thing which made us so keen to visit was what they have there for children, namely a mud pie kitchen and a barefoot walking trail. Little Miss C, like so many other children her age, loves making mud pies at every possible opportunity, and the idea of walking barefoot (and hence being able to tick off something on the Trust’s 50 things to do before you’re 11 and 3/4) really appealed to me.

It was a bit of a trek to get there (perfect opportunity for the children to catch up on sleep a bit) and it was so so worth it. The mud pie kitchen was as muddy as anything, but LMC made friends with another little girl there and had a fantastic time. The barefoot walking trail was quite simply one of the best outdoor activities I’ve done in a long, long time. Watch out for a whole separate blog post – next on my to do list!

As if the barefoot walk and mud pie kitchen wasn’t enough excitement though – the gardens are also delightful, and I loved the invitation to potter in the potting shed. Exactly my kind of thing.

The cafe provided a delicious cream tea and it’s probably a sign of how much we enjoyed our visit that we were sneaking out the gate after they’d technically shut for the day!